Kerala Youth Cong leader who criticised Rahul after poll loss resigns from party

CR Mahesh, the Youth Congress state vice-president in Kerala who criticised the leadership of the party’s national vice-president Rahul Gandhi after the recent assembly poll debacle, has resigned from the party, saying he was “fed up” with politics of groupism.

CR Mahesh, the Youth Congress state vice-president in Kerala who criticised Rahul Gandhi, resigned from the party on Wednesday.(Twitter)

CR Mahesh, the Youth Congress state vice-president in Kerala who criticised the leadership of the party’s national vice-president Rahul Gandhi after the recent assembly poll debacle, resigned from the party on Wednesday, saying he was “fed up” with politics of groupism.

Addressing newsmen in Kollam, Mahesh also said he has no plan to join any other party.

“It is time for me to quit politics. It doesn’t mean that I am eying another party. I am fed up with politics of groupism and the party that I represented for many years is in no mood to change or reform itself,” he said, announcing his decision to resign.

Soon after his press conference, the Youth Congress national leadership suspended him from the party citing indiscipline.

Mahesh had contested the 2016 assembly polls from Karunagapally in Kollam district and lost to CPI’s R Ramachandran by 1,759 votes.

After the recent assembly poll setback for the Congress, he openly criticised Rahul Gandhi on Facebook, inviting criticism from senior leaders.

He had said the Congress in Kerala was without a president for two weeks.

“The PCC is without leadership for two weeks. The leadership is also enjoying faction feud. Even the party student wing, Kerala Students Union, everything is decided on the lines of factions,” he wrote.

He also urged former defence minister and former Kerala chief minister AK Antony to break his silence on what was happening in the Congress.

“Seeing this senior leader AK Antony who grew up from student politics is sitting like a ‘mauni baba’ in Delhi,” Ramesh said in his Facebook post.

He also said around 80% of the memberships in Kerala claimed by the NSU leadership was fake and even the student body election was narrowed down to group politics.

Many senior party leaders, including former chief minister Oommen Chandy and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, had criticised his posts on social media.